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...the Bible tells me so:
“You always have the poor with you” (Jesus in John 12:8 NRSV).
Sometimes it is difficult to not be a cynic.
I was waiting outside a restaurant for a friend when a woman approached. She told me that her four children were in her broken down car at a nearby service station. She asked me if I would feed her and her children.
What would you do?
I asked her to bring her children to the restaurant, and then I would feed all of them. That should have settled the matter. Instead, she walked away, approached an older couple, talked with them, and then walked back toward me.
What would you do?
I told her that I did not appreciate her asking someone else for a handout, when I had agreed to buy them lunch. Again, I said to her to get her children and that I would feed them. She walked out of the parking lot and was gone.
Sometimes it is difficult to not be a cynic.
I have had someone ask for groceries for her and her children. She had a reputation. She frequently used her welfare money to buy lottery tickets.
What would you do?
Personally, if
the State of
Sometimes it is difficult to not be a cynic.
However, I struggle with what I am doing. Am I helping the poor or hindering them? Am I encouraging poverty or assisting in self-reliance?
Often I wonder how many of the people that we have helped over the years only wanted a handout.
We are a small congregation and want to help others as best as we can. We do not give cash. However, we will buy some groceries or pay a little on a water or electric bill. Unfortunately, we do not have the funds to help everyone who comes our way.
Nevertheless, I accept the serious responsibility given to Christians. As a result, I would much rather help those not needing it than not help those who do.
As we look at the Scriptures, it makes no difference whether someone is a citizen of our country or an illegal alien. Poverty makes no distinction in national borders, cultures or race.
With all of the great preaching that the apostle Paul did among the Gentiles, and with all of the converts that he brought to Christ, the leaders of the Lord’s church in Jerusalem, James, Peter and John, reminded him to “remember the poor” (Galatians 2:10).
Jesus said, “Blessed
are you who are poor, for yours is the
James, the brother of Jesus, echoed His words, “Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that He has promised to those who love Him?” (James 2:5)
James continued with this example of helping the poor:
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (verses 14-17).
The apostle John emphasized in his letters and gospel the importance of loving brothers. For example, he wrote,
“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action” (1 John 3:16-18).
Lest we think that Christian charity is only for Christians, Paul told us, “So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith” (Galatians 6:10).
It matters what we believe. In fact, in the conclusion to the first major preaching section of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus declared that we must obey the will of the Father to enter His kingdom (Matthew 7:21-23).
However, the basis of God’s eternal blessing on the Great Day of Judgment in chapter 25:31-46, the last major preaching section, will be feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting the prisoner. The King will say to those doing so, “Come, you that are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (verse 34; see verse 41).
Let us close with the words of Paul, “In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ ” (Acts 20:35).
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